Backup and Recovery as a Service – Tape or Cloud?

January 27, 2016January 28, 2016

Can tape and cloud backup work together to give you a comprehensive Backup and Recovery as a Service solution?

Do you stick to the old tried and tested tape backup which has been around since the 1960’s or do you chose cloud backup – the new kid on the block?

There are a few factors to consider when choosing the right backup solution for your business… With the ever increasing volumes of data that businesses need to keep secure and protected one would be forgiven for thinking that old fashioned methods, such as tape, would not have the capacity to cope with these zettabytes of data. Tape capacity, however, has increased to keep up with the demands of these data volumes. One way to help you make the decision on a suitable Backup and Recovery service is to look at the way in which you use the data.

E.G.

Who needs to access the data and how often?

What are your RPO and RTO’s for each data set and how will these impact the business?

Off-site tape backup and cloud storage are the forerunners for backup and recovery services today. They are not, however, mutually exclusive and if used in conjunction with each other could give you the best of both worlds: enabling the benefits of the traditional off site tape backup alongside the fluidity of cloud backup methods.

Tape backup can provide a cost-effective storage method for data that is rarely requested and is used as an archive of data. Due to its portability it can also be used to transport large volumes of data from site to site thus avoiding data streaming over the Internet (in the case where a business has poor connectivity). This is all very well but the tape solution requires someone to physically download the data, transport the tape and store it offsite, which can be time consuming and resource intensive for many businesses.

Cloud Backup and Recovery as a service offers a flexible, scalable, pay as you grow approach to your backup needs and gives you the ability to perform continuous backups without requiring the physical handling of the data. For data that is business critical and for which you need fast access, a cloud backup solution would be far better as you have complete visibility and control over when you backup and retrieve your data.

In conclusion, tape and cloud backup mechanisms can work together for your backup needs. Once you have evaluated your data sets you can categorise the data into those which would be better backed up through tape and those that would be better backed up in the cloud.

Tape is considered a more cost effective option than cloud backup but with the extra investment in cloud backup, your business can have more control over your backups and enable faster retrieval of your business critical data. If the data you want to backup, however, is for long term retention and will very rarely be required then tape can offer that archive solution.

Call one of our team here at Datanet on 01252 810010 and we can help you to evaluate your backup and Recovery needs.

Call our team today on 01252 810010 to find out more about how we can help you